Pompons are of course well known in the prior art. They commonly consist of a handle element with a plurality of strips or streamers of decorative material, such as feathers, strips of paper, strips of flexible plastic or strands of colorful yarn. These devices are grasped and shaken to provide a visual display, such as at sporting events.
Various modifications of the typical pompons have been proposed in order to provide a better visual display for one reason or another. Thus, the Offen et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,215 discloses a finger held pompon in which the "shakers can have a glossy appearance so that the same will catch and reflect light". Uchytil et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,840 discloses a pompon shaped safety warning device intended as an emergency reflector and which has streamers 16 which are "shiny strips of relatively thin flexible, glossy reflective material, for example, silvered Mylar". Malott U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,687 discloses a light reflecting pompon type device.
As indicated above, the streamers which often form the visual part of pompons have been known to be formed of plastic strips. Rodermund et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,647 discloses a process for making pompons and mentions that plastics are suitable materials for pompon strip "foils" and further that the foils may be dyed. Insofar as is known, however, no one has previously used any fluorescent, phosphorescent or dayglow dyes or pigments in the manufacture of such strips or streamers, although fluorescent dyes have been used in toys and in golf balls (Berard U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,386).
Regarding the general use of fluorescent pigments in plastics, the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology (3rd Ed., Vol. 6, page 612) states:
Fluorescent pigments or dyes depend upon their ability to absorb light at one wavelength and to remit it in a narrow intense band at a longer wavelength . . . . The dyes used include the rhodamines, which emit pink, and aminonaphthalimides which are bright greenish yellow. To obtain maximum effect, the dyes are dissolved in brittle resins at low concentrations. The colored resins are then ground to powders and used as pigments. The brightness of such a combination far exceeds that of any pigment alone. PA0 Fluorescent dyes do not have lightfastness. Their use in plastics is confined to the lower temperature resins, vinyls, polyethylene, and acrylics, at maximum temperatures of 200.degree. C. PA0 There are many types of luminescent materials, some of which require a special source of excitation such as an electric discharge or ultraviolet radiation. PA0 Daylight-fluorescent pigments, in contrast, require no artificially general energy. Daylight, or an equivalent white light, can excite these unique materials not only to reflect colored light selectively, but to give off an extra glow of fluorescent light, often with high efficiency and surprising brilliance . . . . PA0 Daylight-fluorescent pigments, with a few exceptions, consist of particles of colorless resins containing dyestuffs that not only have color but are capable of intense fluorescence in solution. The resin is truly a solvent for the dyes. For example, in one resin system, a thermoplastic molten resin is formed containing the dye. Upon cooling to room temperature, the resin mass becomes very brittle. It is then pulverized to the proper fineness . . . . PA0 A fluorescent substance is one that absorbs radiant energy of certain wavelengths and, after a fleeting instant, gives off part of the absorbed energy as quanta of longer wavelengths. In contrast to ordinary colors in which the absorbed energy degrades entirely to heat, light emitted from a fluorescent color adds to the light returned by simple reflection to give the extra glow characteristic of a daylight-fluorescent material . . . . PA0 The brilliance of daylight-fluorescent colors leads to their use for the decoration and enhancement of a wide range of products. Children's plastic toys, plastic containers, and many other consumer items are colored with fluorescent pigments to heighten their appeal . . . . PA0 Most manufacturers of fluorescent pigments offer special products for coloring thermoplastic molding resins . . . . Low- and high-density polyethylene, high-impact and general purpose polystyrene, ABS, and various acrylic polymers are best suited for these pigments. The pigment, 1-2% of the total weight of the plastic, is added either as a dry-blended material or first formulated into a color-concentration pellet which is blended into the uncolored resin before molding into a finished article.
And from Volume 14, pp. 546-547:
______________________________________ Important Dyestuffs for Daylight-Fluorescent Pigments CAS Registry Colour Index Name Number (CI) Number Manufacturer ______________________________________ Rhodamine B [81-88-9] Basic Violet 10 BASF Rhodamine [989-38-8] Basic Red 1 BASF F5G Xylene Red B [3520-42-1] Acid Red 52 Sandoz Chemical Fluorescent [2478-20-8] Solvent Yellow L. B. Holliday Yellow Y 44 Maxillon Bril- [12221-8-2] Basic Yellow 40 CIBA-GEIGY liant Flavine 10GFF Alberta Solvent Yellow Day-Glo Color Yellow.sup.a 135 Potomac [61902-43-0] Solvent Yellow Day-Glo Color Yellow 160:1 Macrolex Fluo- Solvent Yellow F. Bayer rescent Yellow 160:1 10GN ______________________________________ .sup.a Soluble only in strong solvents such as dimethyl formamide and in some molten resins.
And from Vol. 14, pp. 564,565:
______________________________________ Approximately Equivalent Commercial Pigment Colors.sup.a Day-Glo Lawter Radiant A-Series.sup.b B-3500 Series.sup.c R-105 Series.sup.d ______________________________________ A-17-N saturn B-3539 lemon R-105-810 chartreuse yellow yellow A-18-N signal B-3545 green R-1-5-811 green green A-16-N arc B-3515 gold- R-105-812 orange- yellow yellow yellow A-15-N blaze B-3514 yellow- R-105-813 orange orange orange A-14-N fire B-3513 red- R-105-814 orange-red orange orange A-13-N rocket B-3534 red R-105-815 red red A-12 neon red B-3530 cerise R-105-816 cerise red A-11 aurora B-3522 pink R-105-817 pink pink A-21 corona B-3554 magenta R-103-G-118 magenta magenta A-19 horizon B-3556 vivid R-103-G-119 blue blue blue ______________________________________ .sup.a Similar colors are listed horizontally but are not exact color matches. .sup.b Thermoplastic pigments for use in paint, screen ink, plastisol, gravure ink, paper coatings, and many other applications. .sup.c Multipurpose pigments for paint, gravure ink, screen ink, paper coatings, plastisol, candles, plastics, and many other applications. .sup.d Multipurpose pigments for paint, screen ink, paper coatings, plastisol, gravure ink, plastics, and many other applications.
As noted above and in spite of such known prior art, pompons with streamers having glowing edges are not known.